Apple

The Top 8 Consumer Electronics Stories of 2024

December 25, 2024
Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

2024 was a year of paradoxes in consumer electronics. While artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and cutting-edge display technology changed how people use their devices, the year also saw a surge in demand for simple, tactile controls and designs. This collection of stories highlights the year’s most significant trends, including Meta’s…

October 31, 2024
Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

In the spirit of the Halloween season, IEEE Spectrum presents a pair of stories that—although grounded in scientific truth rather than the macabre—are no less harrowing. In today’s installment, Pete Warden shares two tales of last-minute deadlines and security concerns.In 1998, Pete Warden was working long hours as a graphics…

October 2, 2024
Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Metallurgy & Material Science

The majority of the world’s advanced logic chips are made in Taiwan, and most of those are made by one company: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC). While it seems risky for companies like Nvidia, Apple, and Google to depend so much on one supplier, for Taiwan’s leaders, that’s a feature,…

10 Sep 24

EU brings Apple, Google to heel in €15.4B courtroom double-whammy

Computer & Information Technology

In two separate cases today, the EU’s Court of Justice ruled in favour of back taxes and fines against Apple and Google totalling €15.4bn, a major victory in the bloc’s ongoing battle with big tech. In the first ruling, the EU’s highest court has ordered Apple to pay Ireland €13.1bn…

August 20, 2024
Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Metallurgy & Material Science

Most mobile phones and tablets rely on passive cooling, dissipating heat into the body of the device (and, eventually, into your palms). An active cooling fan would help, but conventional fans are too large to fit in smartphones, tablets, and even some laptops.Microspeaker manufacturer xMEMS thinks it has the solution…

15 Mar 24

VR Headsets Are Approaching the Eye’s Resolution Limits

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

The Chinese consumer electronics company TCL Technology recently unveiled a monstrous, 163-inch 4K Micro-LED television that one home theater expert described as “tall as Darth Vader.” Each of the TV’s 8.3 million pixels is an independent, miniscule LED, a feat for which TCL charges over $100,000. But here’s the real…

09 Mar 24

Privacy Is Just No Longer a Thing in Augmented Reality?

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

The Apple Vision Pro teleports you to a parallel universe, one where you can summon apps and flick through web pages with a wave of your hands. It’s a feat made possible by an array of cameras, microphones, and gyroscopes that monitor your every move. And the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech…

28 Nov 23

Varjo’s New AR Headset Is Built for Secret Labs

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

The Meta Quest 3 is a capable, accessible mixed reality device. But if you’re a mad scientist working on a secret project in an underground lab, it’s not going to cut it.Finnish headset manufacturer Varjo has a solution: the XR-4, a new generation of flagship mixed-reality headsets built for unusually…

09 Nov 23

Grown-up Arm Chips Look to Dethrone x86 in Laptops

Computer & Information Technology

Qualcomm is again coming for laptops—and this time, it means business. At the company’s October 2023 Snapdragon Summit, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X Elite, a system-on-a-chip (SoC) with a custom Arm architecture designed specifically for laptop PCs. The new chip is far from Qualcomm’s first attempt to upset the PC’s…

13 Sep 23

Apple bends to EU rules by adding a USB-C port to the iPhone 15

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

During its ‘Wonderlust’ event, Apple unveiled its four new iPhone and two new Apple Watch models, featuring better cameras, faster processors, a new charging system and a price hike for the higher-end model. The most significant announcement was Apple’s decision to equip the new iPhone 15 model with a USB-C…

The Top 8 Consumer Electronics Stories of 2024

Scary Stories: Sudden Deadlines and Security Fiascos

Defending Taiwan With Chips and Drones

EU brings Apple, Google to heel in €15.4B courtroom double-whammy

All-Silicon “Fan-on-a-Chip” Keeps Thin Devices Cool

VR Headsets Are Approaching the Eye’s Resolution Limits

Privacy Is Just No Longer a Thing in Augmented Reality?

Varjo’s New AR Headset Is Built for Secret Labs

Grown-up Arm Chips Look to Dethrone x86 in Laptops

Apple bends to EU rules by adding a USB-C port to the iPhone 15

Google won two major awards at MWC Barcelona 2025.

Expanding AI Overviews and introducing AI Mode

This MRI Can Run on Batteries

The Tiny Star Explosions Powering Moore’s Law